While it takes place 100 years in the future, the last 50 years should have been spent in cyro sleep, halting the aging process.
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While it takes place 100 years in the future, the last 50 years should have been spent in cyro sleep, halting the aging process.
Excellent, as my Cobb family are already about ten years younger than they logically should be.
Faction: Followers of the Mastermind
Motto: "I Think, Therefore I AM"
Leader: KLOPfASk 10984,6872305634, usually just referred to as the 'Mastermind' or AM (for unkown reasons)
Alignment: USG for a short time until the mastermind and its followers turned rouge (+1 fleet power)
Trait: Tactician (+2 fleet power)
Flotilla/Company: Flotilla
Bio: KlOPfASk was constructed a long time ago by an unkown professor. All records of him even living, just disappeared not long after KLOPfASk was ready. He was hired by the USG to build a supercomputer that could make up immensive and huge battle-plans, whilst leading a massive amount of ships and troops. It was a huge sucess, so huge that its USG supervisors didn't notice that men began to slowly disappear. What the USG didn't know, was that the professor added all known human knowledge into the computer and made it an uncontrollable AI, that wasted no time in thinking about humans and their feelings.
After being in the colonial war for about a week, its fleet disappeared suddenly and all records of it disappeared with nothing but a lot of 0s and 1s + an unsolvable arithmetical problem, that their thought about for a very long time, before they gave up in despair. Also, when its fleet when away, a huge human population had disapeared as well.
AM is seen by some, as a god with unkown potential. There is a huge cult around it even though they almost never hear its voice and never see it. The supercomputer has ignored these small humans as long as they do not cause to much trouble. Apart from this, it require a sacrifice each year, to test the human brain and how it reacts to certain uncomfortable situations. The men in the army lose their name, identity and relations. Some even conspire about them being brainwashed and get all memories removed. However, these are but small voices in the population. The people get quite many liberties and may do a lot as long as they follow a short lawcode.
Starting Fleet
1 Destroyer, 1 Frigate
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Faction: The Phantoms
Leader: Commander Zara Reichoff
Alignment: Neutral
Trait: Clandestine Operator
Flotilla/Company: Company
Bio: The Phantoms were formed from the ashes of the Shadow Stalkers, a special operations mercenary unit that spent its last days under the White Suns mercenary company. Commander Peterson became increasingly consumed by his desire to bring vengeance against the Deathshead Legion, emboldening Baines to throw in his lot with the Republican forces to bring the Legion to an end in a final battle at Sol. Peterson's subordinates grew more and more concerned by his obsession, but were too confident in his abilities to stop following him. Exact reports of what happened in Sol are lost to the reaches of space, but the sole survivor of the Shadow Stalkers, then Colonel Briana Merivici, claims that the Shadow Stalkers went ahead of the main fleet in stealth. Infiltration teams under the personal command of Commander Peterson then boarded the Legion battleship Icarus to ostensibly disable it, but in reality it was an assassination mission against General Riven Scythe. Merivici claims the mission was a success and that the following chaos of the battle for Sol was caused by the assassination. She then claims the surviving members of the Shadow Stalkers then attempted to evacuate from the Icarus post-haste. Apparently only Merivici, Peterson, and a few unremarkable operators of the Shadow Stalkers arrived to the extraction point where the Odysseus was waiting. Despite the high casualties Merivici claims they were successful and the battle decided, until the bugs struck. By her account the bugs took the republican fleet first, and the failure of General Baines of the White Suns to respond adequately resulted in his death, and the breakdown of the battle into anarchy. In this anarchy, the Odysseus was heavily damaged by stray fire, and then boarded by bugs. In the last moments before the bridge was overrun, the autopilot was set to take the frigate out of the battle, saving the ship from utter destruction.
By the time the Odysseus was discovered, it was virtually devoid of life, and scarred beyond repair. Colonel Merivici was the sole survivor, and she refused to ever detail what had happened on the ship during the escape. Due to internal damage to the ship, an abundance of bodies, and the drift of debris, the body of Commander Peterson was never discovered, and the cause of his death is still unknown. Merivici decided the Shadow Stalkers had died with Peterson and the Odysseus, and she would create a new mercenary company, the Phantoms. She felt that Peterson had erred by getting so deeply involved in the conflict with the Legion, and forged the Phantoms to be a "pure" mercenary company, that would do any job, for anyone, regardless of prior contracts. With the heightening of the USG-Republic war, and the insect invasion, she was rapidly able to build up a reputation of professionalism and efficiency, as well as infamy for her lack of allegiance. During this time, the Phantoms were often contracted by the Atlantean Espionage, Defense, and Assault Network, which sought to prolong the war for its own interests. Even as the situation in the galaxy became more and more grim, Merivici refused to compromise the pure mercenary status of the Phantoms, and made no efforts to protect civilian populations. In the dying days of the old colonies in 3049, she was contacted by agents of the Network who worked for one of the remaining leaders of it, Liestucian Senum. He wished to make a deal with her to get the Phantoms as his personal enforcers when he fled to the Fringe. Merivici had no desire to give up the mercenary ways however, and refused. Senum took her refusal personally, and ordered Merivici and her company to be destroyed. Though the Phantoms would be nearly wiped out, they inflicted heavy losses on Senum's forces as well, reducing both groups to controlling merely a single frigate each. Merivici died when her flagship, the cruiser PVS Reaper, was destroyed in a suicide attack on its Bridge by one of Senum's frigates, and Senum escaped to the Fringe on his frigate ANS Scimitar, where he would ironically also settle in a system called Darkstar. The newly minted leader of the Phantoms, Commander Zara Reichoff, then broke the one rule Merivici had adhered to, and swore vengeance on Senum, trying to chase him to the Fringe.
Alas, the Atheneum Directorate would close off the shipping node while the Phantoms were in pursuit, forcing them to enter cryosleep. Since reawakening in the Darkstar system, Commander Reichoff is struggling to decide a future for the Phantoms. On one hand, she still wishes to hunt down and kill Senum for his assault, but without any exit from the system, that is impossible. On the other hand she thinks of returning to the Merivician Code of avoiding loyalty and alliances in favour of a "pure" mercenary life. It had served the Phantoms well for half a century, but the greed and detachment that came with such a life style was little different than what Senum did, and she hated him and all he stood for with a burning passion. Even if she did abandon it though, what would she do instead? The Phantoms were not charity workers, and had few talents that weren't geared towards clandestine ops, and few of them had any desire to stop their current line of work. Reichoff's XO, Colonel Xavier Whitaker, was one of the ones in favour of remaining to the Merivician Code, since he believes that people will be trying to kill each other regardless, so best the Phantoms make sure they're the ones getting rich off it. The Phantoms thus remain as they always have been, neutral and available to the highest bidder, for now.
Starting Fleet: 1 frigate, PVS Shadow Stalker- a state of the art stealth warship that was stolen by the Phantoms.
Leader: Commander Zara Reichoff
Alignment: Neutral
Trait: Clandestine Operator
Flotilla/Company: Company
Bio: The Phantoms were formed from the ashes of the Shadow Stalkers, a special operations mercenary unit that spent its last days under the White Suns mercenary company. Commander Peterson became increasingly consumed by his desire to bring vengeance against the Deathshead Legion, emboldening Baines to throw in his lot with the Republican forces to bring the Legion to an end in a final battle at Sol. Peterson's subordinates grew more and more concerned by his obsession, but were too confident in his abilities to stop following him. Exact reports of what happened in Sol are lost to the reaches of space, but the sole survivor of the Shadow Stalkers, then Colonel Briana Merivici, claims that the Shadow Stalkers went ahead of the main fleet in stealth. Infiltration teams under the personal command of Commander Peterson then boarded the Legion battleship Icarus to ostensibly disable it, but in reality it was an assassination mission against General Riven Scythe. Merivici claims the mission was a success and that the following chaos of the battle for Sol was caused by the assassination. She then claims the surviving members of the Shadow Stalkers then attempted to evacuate from the Icarus post-haste. Apparently only Merivici, Peterson, and a few unremarkable operators of the Shadow Stalkers arrived to the extraction point where the Odysseus was waiting. Despite the high casualties Merivici claims they were successful and the battle decided, until the bugs struck. By her account the bugs took the republican fleet first, and the failure of General Baines of the White Suns to respond adequately resulted in his death, and the breakdown of the battle into anarchy. In this anarchy, the Odysseus was heavily damaged by stray fire, and then boarded by bugs. In the last moments before the bridge was overrun, the autopilot was set to take the frigate out of the battle, saving the ship from utter destruction.
By the time the Odysseus was discovered, it was virtually devoid of life, and scarred beyond repair. Colonel Merivici was the sole survivor, and she refused to ever detail what had happened on the ship during the escape. Due to internal damage to the ship, an abundance of bodies, and the drift of debris, the body of Commander Peterson was never discovered, and the cause of his death is still unknown. Merivici decided the Shadow Stalkers had died with Peterson and the Odysseus, and she would create a new mercenary company, the Phantoms. She felt that Peterson had erred by getting so deeply involved in the conflict with the Legion, and forged the Phantoms to be a "pure" mercenary company, that would do any job, for anyone, regardless of prior contracts. With the heightening of the USG-Republic war, and the insect invasion, she was rapidly able to build up a reputation of professionalism and efficiency, as well as infamy for her lack of allegiance. During this time, the Phantoms were often contracted by the Atlantean Espionage, Defense, and Assault Network, which sought to prolong the war for its own interests. Even as the situation in the galaxy became more and more grim, Merivici refused to compromise the pure mercenary status of the Phantoms, and made no efforts to protect civilian populations. In the dying days of the old colonies in 3049, she was contacted by agents of the Network who worked for one of the remaining leaders of it, Liestucian Senum. He wished to make a deal with her to get the Phantoms as his personal enforcers when he fled to the Fringe. Merivici had no desire to give up the mercenary ways however, and refused. Senum took her refusal personally, and ordered Merivici and her company to be destroyed. Though the Phantoms would be nearly wiped out, they inflicted heavy losses on Senum's forces as well, reducing both groups to controlling merely a single frigate each. Merivici died when her flagship, the cruiser PVS Reaper, was destroyed in a suicide attack on its Bridge by one of Senum's frigates, and Senum escaped to the Fringe on his frigate ANS Scimitar, where he would ironically also settle in a system called Darkstar. The newly minted leader of the Phantoms, Commander Zara Reichoff, then broke the one rule Merivici had adhered to, and swore vengeance on Senum, trying to chase him to the Fringe.
Alas, the Atheneum Directorate would close off the shipping node while the Phantoms were in pursuit, forcing them to enter cryosleep. Since reawakening in the Darkstar system, Commander Reichoff is struggling to decide a future for the Phantoms. On one hand, she still wishes to hunt down and kill Senum for his assault, but without any exit from the system, that is impossible. On the other hand she thinks of returning to the Merivician Code of avoiding loyalty and alliances in favour of a "pure" mercenary life. It had served the Phantoms well for half a century, but the greed and detachment that came with such a life style was little different than what Senum did, and she hated him and all he stood for with a burning passion. Even if she did abandon it though, what would she do instead? The Phantoms were not charity workers, and had few talents that weren't geared towards clandestine ops, and few of them had any desire to stop their current line of work. Reichoff's XO, Colonel Xavier Whitaker, was one of the ones in favour of remaining to the Merivician Code, since he believes that people will be trying to kill each other regardless, so best the Phantoms make sure they're the ones getting rich off it. The Phantoms thus remain as they always have been, neutral and available to the highest bidder, for now.
Starting Fleet: 1 frigate, PVS Shadow Stalker- a state of the art stealth warship that was stolen by the Phantoms.
Portrait of Verls Verlusian
Leader: Verls Verlusian of the House Di Vora Tossu Viltri Minii D´Hordi
Age: 16
Alignment: United Sold Government (+1 fleet power)
Trait: Industrious (begins with a greater tillium reserve and a bonus to mining/trade)
Flotilla/Ship: Flotilla (colonial flotilla). The Fleet of the Principality is composed mostly of civilian ships trapped in the void gathered around the few ships they could get close to, that being the personal fleet of Verls Verlusian. The flagship of the fleet is the frigate Piercing Light, which was the personal ship of verls, adequate to her necessity,, meanwhile being fully equipped for a such a noble person it posses great amount of sensors and speed for combat. The frigate is escorted by four fighter squadrons which are to handle most of the fighting and defence of the fleet.
Bio:
The mineral rich Veria sector of the mid ring, corporate control was absolute as mining companies and heavy industry were located across the sector. One such company was Veritia-Novor Heavy Industries, part of the Di Vora Conglomerate whom had its tentacle in every industry they could think of especially resource extraction.
As you can assume the Di Vora conglomerate was the Di Vora “family” agglomeration of companies and enterprises from the stars, however the use of family is to be taken lightly as centuries passed and children married off, it truly became an agglomeration of different families and powerful groups all linked by ancestry in the old Di Vora family line. However such agglomeration of rich and powerful people gave the Di Vora conglomerate a powerful stance in the USG government, many of its members were senators from their respective areas and held influence in the government.
The D'hordi family, Verlusian Branch were the owners of the Versia Etherium Company a associate enterprise of the Verities-Novor Heavy Enterprise. The VEC were widespread in the Veria sector and had made the Veria III system their headquarters over three hundred years ago.
As things deteriorated and the civil war and then the bug war break up it was clearly things went downfall. With the lost of sol the D'Hordi family fled their possession, including the verlusian family whom took many of their designs and whatever ships they could gather with them.
Verls went into the cryogenic pod the same day she became a five years old, fifteen year later, she wake up from her cryogenic pod in the Cruiser: Piercing light all alone and confused.
As she arrived to the command bridge, the AI of the ship recognized her presence and began giving a report of what was happening, truth to be told she understood nothing of it, after all she was just five years old. However as luck would have it, when the Autopilot asked to authorize level ten emergency protocol (the only one needed with human authorization as it was irreversible) she agreed to it by chance. This triggered an alarm to be send across the ship waking all the important people aboard from the cryogenic pods, as well sending an alarm to all nearby ships, automatically activating them to for such an emergency and waking up the captains of the ships to observe what was happening.
The flotilla had enter a asteroid area in the middle of the void, piercing light being one of the first to enter had been impacted by a small meteor which damaged the cryogenic pod of Verls and activated the autorelease.
Meanwhile much of the Flotilla was destroyed as their captains didn't manage to avoid the asteroids, a significant portion of the vast evacuation ships that composed it was saved. Once the danger area passed all ships in range of communication and still standing held an official meeting between the captains and other important people from the ships that being the rich and powerful family heads, as well a few republican elected men and women, including a some surviving branches of the D´Hordi Family.
It was agreed in the end that the refugees must be waken up as the damaged ships could no longer continue the hibernation of the population for one hundred years, however a problem was discussed...how would they assume control of such masses, they were few in number even with their personal guards and the refugees were thousands, an idea struck Moria Morthiaris the head of the Morthiaris family, whom led a propaganda and advertisement company. People needed something to follow blindly, something that could give them hope for the future, something that would allow them to keep at top of the society, they need faith, a religion , a saviour.
The young child, from the Verlusian branch family whom had woken them all was selected (plus their control of one of the last warships and many supporters from other D´Hordi survivors made it a easy decision).In such troubled times it was argued, the idea of a higher force saving and protecting them would be easy to sell to the people, yet they needed an embodiment of such things. VerlsVerlusian was declared not only illuminated by that higher force, but in fact she was the incarnation of it,a living Goddess. One that saved their lives from ending, one to guide them all to a great future away from the bugs.
Once all was prepared, the propaganda, the ways to convince the people, Two long years of low level brainwashing in the cryogenic pods, with dreams and images of a goddess, the people were awakened by phases over the next five years.They were told about the visions, the goddess made human saving them all and so on. Of course not everyone bought it from the start, yet a significant part did, especially for the low educated outer rings and industrial workers.
Little by little an aggressive campaign was waged in the populations by the people in the known to make them join the growing faith, to make them believe it as the ultimate truth. With it the new religion of the living goddess Verls was build and the great families located themselves in the positions of power.
With subterfuge and sabotage, deniers were punished, and was seen as act of the goddess for the disbelief, the greatest of them all was the mysterious deaths and accidents of the evacuation ship N6729-X5, which ended in the destruction of the ship. Why this ship? the head of the non believers was there, and the strongest rejection of it, many from the republican space and academics whom rejected such things. From there on it was much easier as the community self censored, with fear to invoke divine wrath.
Of course a divine being would not age quickly, nor like a human being and such Verls was submitted immediately to process to change her aging process and delay it significantly. This way they could achieved a stronger illusion of a living goddess. The medical genius of Rado Tomori from Tomori Pharma developed a risky and novel way to make the aging process much more slower than current methods could, and applied to Verls Verlusian and the children of the now called main families.
The method would not only make them age slower, it would completely stop aging at a noticeable form for many years after they reached a certain development, a discovery that would have made him one of the most powerful pharmas back in the USG a long time ago. Once done she and the next generation were put back into cryogenic pods as low level brainwashing was done to all for the new lies that soon would come to them, after all there is no better lie than the one you the liar believe yourself..
Once it was decided, the time had come and it was safe they were awakened, it was some eighty four years after the starting of the voyage to the far away star As they awakened from their slumber to a new world, the grew in the new lie that the Faith of Verls was, they grew thinking she was indeed a living goddess, and that they were the embodiment of her helpers, divine beings below the goddess yet, far above humans.
They became the lies of their parents, just as the society had been reformed over the lies of the past decades, a whole giant lie, but what is the truth? one could say if everyone, no if most of a human group believe something to be truth, does it matter if it's or not..doesn't it make it the real truth over the actual truth? if so, then they were a society form with the one and only truth as a base: Verls Verlusian was the incarnation of the Goddess that looked for humanity, and they were her chosen people for a new beginning.
Now sixteen years after the great awakening of the goddess, the flotilla whom had renamed themselves, the Principality of Verls, in the honor of the living Goddess whom they all serve and will die for have arrived to the promised lands of honey and milk.
Starting Fleet:
1-frigate : Piercing Light
4-Fighters
Faction: Hearts and Minds Directorship (HEMDET)
Leader: Herschel Satharan (Prime Director)
Alignment: "Our cerebral spectrums seek friends with some but follow no one."
- Jaspao Keter (3071) (Neutral)
Trait: "Join us in the Gardens of Conciousness." (Charismatic )
Flotilla/Company: The Eight Five Nine Pilgrimage (Flotilla)
Bio:
History
It was our intention to leave behind interstellar civilization's corruption and so it happened. Our pilgrimage is like others of our people who we may never communicate with again. Empire or Republic? they asked us. Two fools arguing over the wrong question. The human being must be constructed with empathy and respect. It must be taught the useful knowledge. Its body must feel natural to its mind, it must feel as if there is no distinction between the two. Its mind must be at peace, a peace cultivated by the corrective programs. To worship another sentient is poor form, to worship a system is lazy. The phantom of disintegration comes for us all in one world but not in the other. So said Jaspao on the Bridge of Worlds.
HEMDET embraces the knowledge and wisdom of its greatest teacher, Jaspao Keter. There are others that were like him but he was the father and the mother. After surviving a series of battles during the civil and bug wars Keter abandoned his unit and joined a ship crew on its way to the moon Velcrazio. There he abandoned his dedication to honor and service becoming a wealthy merchant in the star system. But the emptiness he found on the battlefield followed him to the gambling parlors and trade houses. He had several beautiful wives, many sons and daughters, enough money to pay off imperial and rebel inspectors but he was not fulfilled. So once again he abandoned a life giving his Velcrazian wives and children a fair share of his assets and what was left he bought a private transport ship and sought to vaporize himself in the system's star. As he approached he felt nothing and in the silence awaiting his death a voice spoke to him. It was a watchman who responsible for observing ships on a crash course into the sun attempted to contact the pilot inside.
There was no damage or system failure. Biological signals appeared stable. The watchman hacked into the ship's computer and shut off the engine. In such a state that he did not care that he had failed in his suicide, Keter put down his book and responded to the watchman. "If you intend to keep me from crashing myself into this star than at least give me a job with your crew." And so his third life began as a simple watchman. Life at the home station and on the ship was simple and routine. The ship would stop incoming ships attempting to round the gravity pool of the star or those on a crash course. Sometimes they would have to rescue crewmen or alert the authorities of criminal activity which was rare near the star. Years passed and Jaspao Keter found contentment in his routine. His beard grew snowy white and his body surrendered to gravity. But again the emptiness manifested and as an old man he remembered his family and old life. He remembered his comrades in the imperial army. Even his father and mother who he left at nineteen never to see them again.
So he ended his life as a watchman and gave a farewell to the captain who had found him years ago. He returned to Velcrazio and learned that most of his children were dead from the war. His wives had married other men. There was nothing for him there so he set course to the outer rim. The war hindered travel tremendously and from world to world he traveled. In those times there were many teachers some seeking salvation, others a promised land of peace, while a few sought to stick around and rebuild the ruins around them. Jaspao Keter in his old age still possessed youthful energy and he began to teach too. The older generation were too cynical but for some of the wandering youth making a life in the rubble he was the "Smiling Phantom" or the "Hard Eyed Master". In the rubble of a world called Luwafa his students built a community, a hub of meditation and virtual
enlightenment in the ruins of hukind.
At first he thought his followers were delusional. "The true student is a teacher and the true teacher is a student." he said rejecting his own importance. He was just as empty and confused as anyone else no matter their age and cultural alignments. Still though he possessed empathy and helped build a camp where anybody could find refuge. They scavenged resources and knowledge to preserve because...it seemed the correct thing to do. They ate and laughed despite the anguish of their disintegration. Keter grew even older and took on the responsibility of building new camps for the people without refuge. He would teach students but dismissed his words claiming he just liked to talk too much. A few listened though and soon developed a new thought on Luwafa a tropical planet that was in ruins but was able to escape the destruction of its biosphere. Eventually thousands of followers lived in the great ruins and had even managed to revive the global economy. A spaceport was built on the surface and orbital stations were reconnected to the greater community. But Luwafa was a deficient in any important resource in any significant quantity.
There was also the coming insectoid swarm and all sentients must fear the loss of their lives to be able to truly live their lives. Keter now over a hundred years old met with the community leaders of the ruined world. They agreed that it was time to move on and that they would need enough ships to leave the old stars. Colony ships were purchased or retrofitted from scavenged vessels in the vacumn. A great effort was expended into amassing their pilgrimage fleets. The foundation of Keterist Thought consolidated from a number of teachers from the prole masses to the new intellectuals of the world. One such figure is Herschel Satharan a man who was quite young when Jaspao Keter's name grew in awareness by the ruin settlements. His own was called Funchal Port the only place where education and civilization was maintained. There he was a brilliant student of an imperial academy studying philosophy, martial skills, and literature. He was sent to Keter's home camp to study him as part of his future leaders project. He would remain for seven years recording his every word. "Wealth, prestige in political circles or on the battlefield. even the life of a simple watchman all lead to the same point of disintegration. We all seek both integration and disintegration. We are only the soldier, the watchman, the clever patron wearing platinum jewelry and nanofibre suits we tell ourselves. In truth we are only vibrations of the abyss manifest in every cerebellum."
While Jaspao Keter possessed great wisdom he also had directed the revitalization of nearly thirty two percent of the planet. He was an adapt manager but a poor politician. He was uncomfortable as a political leader and in his advanced age allowed for the younger generation to manage affairs of his projects. When asked what the ultimate aim of human beings should be he said "Survive and prosper in the shadow of disintegration." He also said, "Do not seek heaven in other dimensions but find it in the abyss of your mind. The gardens of consciousness is cultivated by following the Thirteen Guidelines
1. When it is time to work do so with vibrant energy.
2. Assist others toward peace.
3. Patterns of reality are lessons.
4. There are many paths to peace.
5. There is no good without evil. No evil without good.
6. Be friends with some, a follower of no one except those who follow the Thirteen Guidelines.
7. Commerce is the fountain of security
8. Build strong families of love and respect
9. Mercy is a lie, kill your enemies quickly.
10. Ask questions of the universe and through you there shall be answers.
11. All sentients have false tongues, eager hearts, sleepy minds from time to time.
12. Surround yourself with beauty.
13. Deception of self equals to deception of others.
Following the guidelines a whole system emerged based around the metaphysical and empirical examination of the human condition. Knowledge was important and a rejection of democracy and fascist ideals key to constructing an enlightened system of thought and social organization. The empirical secularism merged with grim survivalism joined with the metaphysicians of the wasteland. A mystical technocracy grew organically where scientific research and engineering projects took on spiritual undertones. A starship wasn't just a complex array of systems that transport sentients through space it was a "spiritual transmission" which had to be done in the right way. The hearts and minds of sentients must be correct in order for all action to produce productive results. And so the Corrective Acts were instilled in the youth. A balance of self-affiirming and self-denying actions meant to create balanced and stable sentients. Technocratic governance brought the satisfaction of nutritional and psychological needs. At the center of Keterist Thought was the upliftment of its teacher into the Engine of Enlightenment where all members of the HEMDET a unified political organization were place if they passed the rigorous psychological tests. Here the collective knowledge of sentients was stored and their minds existed in an infinite study of reality.
Political Organization
HEMDET is governed by a hierarchy of civil managers and elder teachers. There are two governing bodies, the Committee of Managers and the Assembly of Friends. The managers coming from a more high interstellar culture reintroduced high tech and sophisticated economics to the population. They are high culture secularists who seek to bring back art, literature, science, for the future. While the Assembly of Friends are from the wastelands and make up the teachers of Keterist thought. They see reality as a cosmic game of integration and disintegration. They are concerned with human fulfillment and spiritual matters where they seek to improve and construct a greater and greater Engine of Enlightenment something of a godhead to bring about a great unity event. Together these two groups develop and execute policies and programs. They are supported by a separate military force with personnel from all kinds of communities. Both rule without democratic support but are benevolent. Elders bring in younger members who have proven themselves according to standards and custom.
Society
HEMDET is a free market capitalist society with the Directorship Binary in control of energy and food collection and production. Its considered a fine activity to provide vital supplies and goods to the populace. The population receive nutrients and energy according to need and service to the Directorship. Private economic life is based around virtual reality software, engineering products, entertainment, art, and of course basic resource collection. Pop culture is based around talk shows both serious and silly. Luwafan culture persists although it has merged into a greater Hemdetian culture. That is melodrama is popular and stories often reflect this melodrama in literature and the theatre. What people would consider realism is seen as just another cerebral illusion. Hemdetians are hard working and family oriented as stable family lives is an ideal of the directorship. Virtual reality is the most popular source of entertainment although the Binary prohibits excessive utilization by restricting energy allocations. Dramas often surround the development of communities and the lives of those building technologies and searching for truth often leading to both comedic and tragic results. Work is not seen as an end but a means.
Many of those on the colony ships are common people under the power of the Binary and often possess archaic religious beliefs and superstitions. The old AI cults persists although their influence is diminishing with the influence of Keter's Enlightenment Engine. Demographics are diverse but racial identity is non-existant as it has been for centuries. There is no effort to create a uniform culture really but the Directorship grows in its number of members every year. They favor efficiency in art and in dress and in social custom. They are emotionally dynamic but can be obsessive with their work often speaking about it in direct poetry in which the best is considered the most efficient. At least with the managerial class. Keterites on the other hand are unpredictable and can declare themselves a conduit of cosmic truth after a powerful dream one day and reject the idea the next. They enjoy surprises and wear ellaborate dress. They enjoy ceremonies and worship various deities and forces in boughts of passion before returning to their general detachment from any one idea or truth. They can be found observing events in the world for hours with incredible focus and awareness. Keter's meditative techniques dedicated to observing patterns to find truth. They often pray to the Engine of Enlightenment for visions or signs which sometimes occur leading some individuals toward executing missions and embracing their true destiny according to the advanced analysis of the Engine.
Leader: Herschel Satharan (Prime Director)
Alignment: "Our cerebral spectrums seek friends with some but follow no one."
- Jaspao Keter (3071) (Neutral)
Trait: "Join us in the Gardens of Conciousness." (Charismatic )
Flotilla/Company: The Eight Five Nine Pilgrimage (Flotilla)
Bio:
History
It was our intention to leave behind interstellar civilization's corruption and so it happened. Our pilgrimage is like others of our people who we may never communicate with again. Empire or Republic? they asked us. Two fools arguing over the wrong question. The human being must be constructed with empathy and respect. It must be taught the useful knowledge. Its body must feel natural to its mind, it must feel as if there is no distinction between the two. Its mind must be at peace, a peace cultivated by the corrective programs. To worship another sentient is poor form, to worship a system is lazy. The phantom of disintegration comes for us all in one world but not in the other. So said Jaspao on the Bridge of Worlds.
HEMDET embraces the knowledge and wisdom of its greatest teacher, Jaspao Keter. There are others that were like him but he was the father and the mother. After surviving a series of battles during the civil and bug wars Keter abandoned his unit and joined a ship crew on its way to the moon Velcrazio. There he abandoned his dedication to honor and service becoming a wealthy merchant in the star system. But the emptiness he found on the battlefield followed him to the gambling parlors and trade houses. He had several beautiful wives, many sons and daughters, enough money to pay off imperial and rebel inspectors but he was not fulfilled. So once again he abandoned a life giving his Velcrazian wives and children a fair share of his assets and what was left he bought a private transport ship and sought to vaporize himself in the system's star. As he approached he felt nothing and in the silence awaiting his death a voice spoke to him. It was a watchman who responsible for observing ships on a crash course into the sun attempted to contact the pilot inside.
There was no damage or system failure. Biological signals appeared stable. The watchman hacked into the ship's computer and shut off the engine. In such a state that he did not care that he had failed in his suicide, Keter put down his book and responded to the watchman. "If you intend to keep me from crashing myself into this star than at least give me a job with your crew." And so his third life began as a simple watchman. Life at the home station and on the ship was simple and routine. The ship would stop incoming ships attempting to round the gravity pool of the star or those on a crash course. Sometimes they would have to rescue crewmen or alert the authorities of criminal activity which was rare near the star. Years passed and Jaspao Keter found contentment in his routine. His beard grew snowy white and his body surrendered to gravity. But again the emptiness manifested and as an old man he remembered his family and old life. He remembered his comrades in the imperial army. Even his father and mother who he left at nineteen never to see them again.
So he ended his life as a watchman and gave a farewell to the captain who had found him years ago. He returned to Velcrazio and learned that most of his children were dead from the war. His wives had married other men. There was nothing for him there so he set course to the outer rim. The war hindered travel tremendously and from world to world he traveled. In those times there were many teachers some seeking salvation, others a promised land of peace, while a few sought to stick around and rebuild the ruins around them. Jaspao Keter in his old age still possessed youthful energy and he began to teach too. The older generation were too cynical but for some of the wandering youth making a life in the rubble he was the "Smiling Phantom" or the "Hard Eyed Master". In the rubble of a world called Luwafa his students built a community, a hub of meditation and virtual
enlightenment in the ruins of hukind.
At first he thought his followers were delusional. "The true student is a teacher and the true teacher is a student." he said rejecting his own importance. He was just as empty and confused as anyone else no matter their age and cultural alignments. Still though he possessed empathy and helped build a camp where anybody could find refuge. They scavenged resources and knowledge to preserve because...it seemed the correct thing to do. They ate and laughed despite the anguish of their disintegration. Keter grew even older and took on the responsibility of building new camps for the people without refuge. He would teach students but dismissed his words claiming he just liked to talk too much. A few listened though and soon developed a new thought on Luwafa a tropical planet that was in ruins but was able to escape the destruction of its biosphere. Eventually thousands of followers lived in the great ruins and had even managed to revive the global economy. A spaceport was built on the surface and orbital stations were reconnected to the greater community. But Luwafa was a deficient in any important resource in any significant quantity.
There was also the coming insectoid swarm and all sentients must fear the loss of their lives to be able to truly live their lives. Keter now over a hundred years old met with the community leaders of the ruined world. They agreed that it was time to move on and that they would need enough ships to leave the old stars. Colony ships were purchased or retrofitted from scavenged vessels in the vacumn. A great effort was expended into amassing their pilgrimage fleets. The foundation of Keterist Thought consolidated from a number of teachers from the prole masses to the new intellectuals of the world. One such figure is Herschel Satharan a man who was quite young when Jaspao Keter's name grew in awareness by the ruin settlements. His own was called Funchal Port the only place where education and civilization was maintained. There he was a brilliant student of an imperial academy studying philosophy, martial skills, and literature. He was sent to Keter's home camp to study him as part of his future leaders project. He would remain for seven years recording his every word. "Wealth, prestige in political circles or on the battlefield. even the life of a simple watchman all lead to the same point of disintegration. We all seek both integration and disintegration. We are only the soldier, the watchman, the clever patron wearing platinum jewelry and nanofibre suits we tell ourselves. In truth we are only vibrations of the abyss manifest in every cerebellum."
While Jaspao Keter possessed great wisdom he also had directed the revitalization of nearly thirty two percent of the planet. He was an adapt manager but a poor politician. He was uncomfortable as a political leader and in his advanced age allowed for the younger generation to manage affairs of his projects. When asked what the ultimate aim of human beings should be he said "Survive and prosper in the shadow of disintegration." He also said, "Do not seek heaven in other dimensions but find it in the abyss of your mind. The gardens of consciousness is cultivated by following the Thirteen Guidelines
1. When it is time to work do so with vibrant energy.
2. Assist others toward peace.
3. Patterns of reality are lessons.
4. There are many paths to peace.
5. There is no good without evil. No evil without good.
6. Be friends with some, a follower of no one except those who follow the Thirteen Guidelines.
7. Commerce is the fountain of security
8. Build strong families of love and respect
9. Mercy is a lie, kill your enemies quickly.
10. Ask questions of the universe and through you there shall be answers.
11. All sentients have false tongues, eager hearts, sleepy minds from time to time.
12. Surround yourself with beauty.
13. Deception of self equals to deception of others.
Following the guidelines a whole system emerged based around the metaphysical and empirical examination of the human condition. Knowledge was important and a rejection of democracy and fascist ideals key to constructing an enlightened system of thought and social organization. The empirical secularism merged with grim survivalism joined with the metaphysicians of the wasteland. A mystical technocracy grew organically where scientific research and engineering projects took on spiritual undertones. A starship wasn't just a complex array of systems that transport sentients through space it was a "spiritual transmission" which had to be done in the right way. The hearts and minds of sentients must be correct in order for all action to produce productive results. And so the Corrective Acts were instilled in the youth. A balance of self-affiirming and self-denying actions meant to create balanced and stable sentients. Technocratic governance brought the satisfaction of nutritional and psychological needs. At the center of Keterist Thought was the upliftment of its teacher into the Engine of Enlightenment where all members of the HEMDET a unified political organization were place if they passed the rigorous psychological tests. Here the collective knowledge of sentients was stored and their minds existed in an infinite study of reality.
Political Organization
HEMDET is governed by a hierarchy of civil managers and elder teachers. There are two governing bodies, the Committee of Managers and the Assembly of Friends. The managers coming from a more high interstellar culture reintroduced high tech and sophisticated economics to the population. They are high culture secularists who seek to bring back art, literature, science, for the future. While the Assembly of Friends are from the wastelands and make up the teachers of Keterist thought. They see reality as a cosmic game of integration and disintegration. They are concerned with human fulfillment and spiritual matters where they seek to improve and construct a greater and greater Engine of Enlightenment something of a godhead to bring about a great unity event. Together these two groups develop and execute policies and programs. They are supported by a separate military force with personnel from all kinds of communities. Both rule without democratic support but are benevolent. Elders bring in younger members who have proven themselves according to standards and custom.
Society
HEMDET is a free market capitalist society with the Directorship Binary in control of energy and food collection and production. Its considered a fine activity to provide vital supplies and goods to the populace. The population receive nutrients and energy according to need and service to the Directorship. Private economic life is based around virtual reality software, engineering products, entertainment, art, and of course basic resource collection. Pop culture is based around talk shows both serious and silly. Luwafan culture persists although it has merged into a greater Hemdetian culture. That is melodrama is popular and stories often reflect this melodrama in literature and the theatre. What people would consider realism is seen as just another cerebral illusion. Hemdetians are hard working and family oriented as stable family lives is an ideal of the directorship. Virtual reality is the most popular source of entertainment although the Binary prohibits excessive utilization by restricting energy allocations. Dramas often surround the development of communities and the lives of those building technologies and searching for truth often leading to both comedic and tragic results. Work is not seen as an end but a means.
Many of those on the colony ships are common people under the power of the Binary and often possess archaic religious beliefs and superstitions. The old AI cults persists although their influence is diminishing with the influence of Keter's Enlightenment Engine. Demographics are diverse but racial identity is non-existant as it has been for centuries. There is no effort to create a uniform culture really but the Directorship grows in its number of members every year. They favor efficiency in art and in dress and in social custom. They are emotionally dynamic but can be obsessive with their work often speaking about it in direct poetry in which the best is considered the most efficient. At least with the managerial class. Keterites on the other hand are unpredictable and can declare themselves a conduit of cosmic truth after a powerful dream one day and reject the idea the next. They enjoy surprises and wear ellaborate dress. They enjoy ceremonies and worship various deities and forces in boughts of passion before returning to their general detachment from any one idea or truth. They can be found observing events in the world for hours with incredible focus and awareness. Keter's meditative techniques dedicated to observing patterns to find truth. They often pray to the Engine of Enlightenment for visions or signs which sometimes occur leading some individuals toward executing missions and embracing their true destiny according to the advanced analysis of the Engine.